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OutShine Film Festival has been a vital part of South Florida’s cultural landscape for nearly 30 years. Though it’s gone through many iterations (and names), it’s always maintained the same guiding principle: to promote and protect queer culture through cinema.
That tradition continues this year with screenings running from Thursday, April 23, through Sunday, May 10, at venues across Miami and Fort Lauderdale (plus some virtual events). With more than 30 films screening this year, here’s a look at some festival highlights.
For Fans of Art and Fashion
From the luxury of the Design District to more rebellious street looks, fashion is an essential part of our local culture. Armani and the Birth of Italian Fashion, directed by John Maggio, features Giorgio Armani’s final on-screen interview before his death last year. It explores the rise of Italian fashion houses Armani, Prada, and Versace, which took inspiration from South Florida. For other visual arts, the new documentary Barbara Forever by Brydie O’Connor is a portrait of the life and legacy of pioneering queer artist Barbara Hammer.
For Musicheads
After playing a fictional version of herself in the meta-mockumentary The Moment earlier this year, Charli XCX is adding “character actress” to her resume. Erupcja, the Ladies Night Screening at OutShine, follows Bethany, who potentially blows up her more conventional life with boyfriend Rob in pursuit of the undeniable chemistry she shares with old friend Nel while traveling across Europe. In new queer cinema icon Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex, she takes on a smaller role alongside Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Chase Sui Wonders, Daveed Diggs, Johnny Knoxville, and Margaret Cho. A scandalous satire about art, sexual politics, and the power dynamics of desire, the film marks Araki’s first feature film in more than a decade.
Music fans should also seek out Rock Out, a documentary by Oscar-winning Dustin Lance Black, who will be on hand to accept the festival’s Lavender Award. The film excavates the obscured queer roots that influenced rock music over the decades, connecting the genre’s rebellious racket with the brazen unconformity of queer culture.
International Films
Numerous OutShine features from around the world offer exciting and differing queer perspectives, both past and present. Inspired by true events, Blue Boy Trial, from filmmaker Kasho Iizuka, investigates the anti-trans purge of 1960s Japan, with tragic echoes of contemporary policies. Leyla Bouzid’s In A Whisper combines mystery and mourning when a sudden death brings a family back together in Tunisia. Family conflict and catharsis are at the heart of this story, anchored by tender and truthful performances from a wonderful cast, including the venerable Hiam Abbass. Finally, Trial of Hein, by Kai Stänicke, is a tense tale about belonging, community, and ostracization through a queer lens. The film debuted at the Berlin Film Festival, where it won the Teddy Award for Best Queer Film.
Florida Filmmakers
Closer to home, OutShine continues to spotlight South Floridian filmmakers with a selection of seven short films screening in Miami and Fort Lauderdale. The Miami edition at the reopened Tower Theater is a foursome of distinct films dealing with death, desire, and discovery.
Miami native Kevin Rios’ Latin Lover tells the tragic true story of queer matinee idol Ramon Navarro and his 1968 death at the hands of some Hollywood hustlers with harrowing style. Similarly, Lilian Cordova’s Death Has Already Passed surreally explores the bridge between life and death with poetic imagery. Let’s Kiss and Find Out, by Lux Alejandra Perez, mines the common queer experience of exploring sexuality by kissing a friend to decipher whether you’re both gay. A different kind of discovery fuels Alex Mitow’s Neon Reef, which follows a couple who stumbles upon an environmental wonder in their own backyard. The Fort Lauderdale selected trio of films debuts at the Gateway, focused on faith in Smita Adhikary’s I Know Who My God Is, stigma in Creed Smith’s HIM+, and wild, telenovela-style comedy in Andy Perrott’s Myrna’s Deal with the Dead.
OutShine LGBTQ+ Film Festival. Thursday, April 23, through Sunday, May 3. outshinefilm.com. Ticket costs vary.
